From 5 to 7 December 2026, Algiers hosts the fifth African Startup Conference (ASC) at the Abdelatif Rahal International Conference Centre. This edition takes deeptech as its common thread, under the slogan “DEEPTECH: the real challenge”, and its organisers expect more than 25,000 participants, 40 ministerial delegations and 150 investors. New this year: an African tech start-up award, which will honour three winners.
An edition refocused on deeptech
The theme was confirmed in early October by Algeria’s Ministry of the Knowledge Economy, Start-ups and Micro-enterprises, which co-organises the event with Algeria Venture, under the high patronage of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. According to an APS news agency dispatch of 10 October, Minister Noureddine Ouadah said preparations were under way; in early November, he described the conference as “the largest technology event on the continent”, a claim that remains the organiser’s own.
Deeptech refers to young companies built on a scientific breakthrough or advanced engineering: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, energy. The daily L’Expression, republished by the Senegalese site Osiris, highlights how much weight this segment has gained elsewhere: in Europe, it reportedly captured around 32% of the venture capital invested in 2025. For African start-ups in the sector, access to funding is therefore one of the conference’s key issues.
What the programme includes
The official website sets out three distinct days. 5 December is reserved for the opening ceremony in the morning, a ministerial summit in the afternoon, and then a gala dinner. 6 and 7 December host the panels and partner events.
- Artificial intelligence. An opening talk by Mohamed Ali Chaabani covers the shift from solo founder to AI-equipped company. It is followed by round tables on training small language models with African data, on dataset quality and annotation, and then on physical AI and autonomous robots, introduced by Isra Al Khaza’li.
- Health and biotechnology. On 7 December, Fayçal Djeridane opens the day with a session on building medical AI companies, ahead of panels devoted to diagnostics, medical AI for Africa, and then energy.
- Partner events. Eight parallel meetings are planned, including an investor summit organised with the Algerian Startup Fund, a session on women in deeptech with GIZ and Smart Africa, an incubator summit with Plug and Play, an investor meeting with AfriLabs and a workshop on intellectual property with the World Intellectual Property Organization.
On the institutional side, the website lists the African Union, Afreximbank, UNDP and GIZ among its strategic partners; the operators Ooredoo and Djezzy top the list of sponsors.
An award for three African start-ups
According to the APS dispatch republished by AllAfrica, this first-ever competition is to choose between hundreds of applications from several countries across the continent and reward only three. The business outlet UpGrowth, quoting a ministry official interviewed on Chaîne 3, specifies the three categories: precision agriculture, water technologies, and a sovereignty, AI and cybersecurity track. The value of the prizes was not disclosed in the sources we consulted.
What the 2025 edition left behind
The fourth edition took place from 6 to 8 December 2025 at the same venue, with Rwanda as guest of honour, focusing on the emergence of African champions. Radio Algérie then announced around 200 exhibitors, more than 300 international experts and more than 150 investors. The same official quoted by UpGrowth speaks of 228 exhibitors last year and expects more than 400 this year, whereas the official website shows a more cautious figure for 2026, above 200: the gap suggests waiting for the final tally.
The main political legacy is the Algiers Declaration. According to ALGERIATECH, the African ministers in charge of start-ups adopted it unanimously; it contains nine commitments, including speeding up the creation of an African AI fund, but it is not binding. Its practical implementation will be one of the points to watch during the ministerial summit on 5 December.
How to take part
Registration is through the official ASC 2026 mobile app, available on Google Play; iPhone users must use the web version until it is published on the App Store. Start-ups seeking a stand or an investor meeting would do well to apply early, as the programme is packed over three days.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the African Startup Conference 2026 held?
From 5 to 7 December 2026, at the Abdelatif Rahal International Conference Centre in Algiers. The first day is devoted to the official opening and the ministerial summit.
Is it open to start-ups from other African countries?
Yes, the event is intended to be continental and the new award is open to applications from several African countries. Participation conditions can be found in the official app.
What is the theme of this fifth edition?
Deeptech, with a focus on artificial intelligence, physical AI and robotics, health and biotechnology, as well as energy.
The African Startup Conference and the continent’s other events are listed in 24h00’s events calendar. Media professionals who want to cover these conferences with us will find the details on the press accreditation page.
Sources
- African Startup Conference 2026 — programme et inscription — African Startup Conference, 2026-11-12
- La DEEPTECH, thème de la 5e édition de la Conférence africaine des start-up — APS, 2026-10-10
- African Startup Conference, "biggest tech event" in Africa — APS, 2026-11-08
- Afrique: 5e édition de la Conférence africaine des start-up du 5 au 7 décembre prochain à Alger — AllAfrica (APS), 2026-10-09
- African Startup Conference in Algeria: ASC 2026 provides 5-7 December — UpGrowth, 2026-10-11
- Les start-up africaines se donnent rendez-vous — Osiris (L'Expression), 2026-10-11
- ASC 2025 Algiers: How Algeria's $1B Fund and 9-Point Declaration Reshape African Startups — ALGERIATECH, 2026-03-25
- Alger accueille dès samedi la 4e Conférence africaine des startups — Radio Algérienne, 2025-12-05